Namesake
by Mariel Nightstalker
Summary: Luna meets the moon goddess one night in the Forbidden Forest and discovers that they have more in common than the lunar cycles. Mythology/Harry Potter. FEMSLASH Artemis/Luna Lovegood


**Namesake**

Luna sent her letters in manila envelopes. She often accompanied the folded sheets of parchment with pressed flowers, pictures, photographs, and samples of her pamphlets. She signed her letters L. Lovegood, like her mother taught her. "It is always better to keep one's gender out of things for as long as possible," is what she'd said, and now that she was an adult trying to carve a niche for herself in the male-dominated world of Magical Creature Conservation, she understood and agreed.

It wasn't that she was ashamed of being a woman; quite the opposite. She took peculiar pleasure in her monthly bleeding specifically because it was a reminder that she was female. She loved her small pert breasts and the womb inside of her. She loved that it was natural or at least common for her sex to be soft where men were harsh.

She also enjoyed other women. She never made any efforts to keep it a secret, but somehow the subject of her sexual leanings never came up and she was never one to just blurt things out needlessly when there were so many other topics to discuss. Despite Muggle stereotypes, there were very few lesbian witches, though there were a fair amount of gay wizards. It was a dichotomy Luna would never understand.

It wasn't like she had a particular lady friend. It was just a detail of her, like the color of her hair or the fact that her name meant 'moon'.

Speaking of moons, it was a full one tonight.

Lying on her back, her writing materials spread out around her carelessly, she admired the moon and its surrounding stars. The clearing she was in was irregularly shaped just like clearings ought to be and the silhouettes of the trees provided a pleasant texture to her view.

She took one of the sugar cubes she used to tempt wildlife with and popped it into her mouth, hollowing her cheeks to soften it faster so that it could dissolve into syrup.

A bird rustled suddenly and roused its fellows. They departed in a panicked frenzy into the night sky, their black wings fluttering across the white backdrop of the moon. Luna ate another sugar cube as she slowly levered herself into a sitting position. Something must have frightened the birds badly for them to take flight rather than keeping still and hiding.

Straining her eyes and ears in the dark, she waited.

Someone or something stepped into the clearing on the far side. Luna sat up straighter still and closed her small fingers around her wand. It came closer and closer still until it emerged from the concealing shadow of the trees and into the cold light of the moon. Luna was startled to find that it was a woman, albeit an unusually tall one.

The woman continued to approach, her feet making no sound on the forest floor thickly carpeted with centuries of pine needles and decayed leaves. Luna wondered who this person could be. Most researchers were too terrified of the Forbidden Forest to venture inside (Luna was ever the exception to this) and it was illegal to hunt in it, not that there were any hunters brave enough to handle the unknown terrors of the Forbidden Forest. Luna knew from personal experience that the so-called terrors were greatly exaggerated. Sugar cubes helped you make friends with even the prickliest of beasts.

She shifted her attention back to the stranger. She was as tall as a tall man with dark curly hair cropped short like a boy's. A shirt in some dark material and jeans comprised her clothing. She wore no shoes.

The woman seemed to know she was there because she stopped about fifteen feet away and just stood there, her face in shadow, watching Luna watch her. They were silent for five minutes, during which neither of them moved. The sugar in her stomach was curdling with the berries she'd taken a chance on and eaten for dinner from fear. Luna was not often afraid, mostly because she wasn't afraid of dying, but she was afraid now. There was something about this woman that seemed…more; more than usual, more than natural and perhaps more than human.

Finally the silence was broken by an owl screeching rather suddenly. Luna jumped and heard the woman give a low dark chuckle. It sent pleasant tingles down Luna's spine and she sternly told her long-denied libido to calm down.

"Hello there."

The greeting was accompanied by the woman crossing the remaining distance between them and offering her hand. Luna still couldn't quite see her face, but she could see the flash of white where her teeth smiled. Her skin was brown and the hand she held out was calloused and hard like wood. The woman's smile was promiscuous and her handshake just slightly over-long. Luna flushed.

"Are you lost, out here all alone?" her voice was foreign but for the life of her Luna was too flustered to make out her accent. It was Greek, perhaps?

"I am out here alone, yes, but not lost," Luna was proud when her voice emerged from her desire-dry mouth the same as ever, "I'm trying to catalogue the Centaur population, and have almost finished. They are having some sort of lunar festival tonight, though, so I have left them in peace for the evening out of respect."

The woman nodded and sank down onto the forest floor, her legs under her. It was easier to see her features from this angle and Luna had no choice but to admire them. She had dark skin, a strong nose of the sort that can make a confident woman striking and a shy one hideous. Matched with her nose was a wide mouth with flesh just a tad darker than her cheeks. Her eyes were still in shadow but they sparkled every now and again.

"That's very responsible of you. Centaurs, the star-gazing bastards, don't like having their ordered universe interrupted."

Luna had to giggle a little even though she knew it was naughty to make fun of the centaurs for their traditions. The woman gave her a slow answering smile that turned every thought in her head to liquid. Luna promptly shifted position on her camping blanket to cross her legs. It helped but not very much. She was attracted to this woman and she was just going to have to deal with it.

"What's your name?"

"Luna."

The woman shuffled closer, and finally Luna could see her eyes. They were perfectly human at first cursory glance, but a second look revealed a strange deep quality, similar to that of the very old and wise. They twinkled like a child's despite their depth. Luna liked them.

"I'm Artemis. Is that really your name?"

Luna huffed, not used to having her name questioned, "So what if it is? You are a stranger and I am in no way dependent on your opinion. I happen to like my name, for your information-"

Her scold was cut short when the woman somehow came close enough to touch her mouth with her fingers, silencing her. She was smiling still.

"You misunderstand me. I was merely surprised that your name should be so intimately connected with my own."

"Oh."

Luna scooted back a little to put some space between them and found her back against a tree. It was too late, though. She caught the scent of her perfume and bit back a sigh. Artemis smelt of grapefruit. Artemis smiled at her and said,

"I won't hurt you. I'm a huntress but you're not exactly the kind of prey I was hunting tonight. You're too pretty to kill, but perhaps just pretty enough to eat."

Luna swallowed and started to wonder things about Artemis that she had no business wondering.

"If you're hungry-"

"Oh, I am, but not for what you're offering."

Artemis put one palm on either side of Luna's hips; her long arms locked; she cocked her head just a little. Luna tried to breathe properly but it was hard to focus. Artemis was tall enough and Luna small enough that they were almost eye-to-eye even though Artemis was essentially on her hands and knees.

Luna made a decision to no longer be a purely passive party in what was now unmistakably a seduction. She could see none of the telltale signs of a Succubus about Artemis, so there was no reason for her to hold herself back from what she wanted. She kissed Artemis. It had been a long time since she'd had cause to kiss anyone, and she would be the first to admit that she was a little out of practice. But for the first time she felt like she actually enjoyed the act.

Artemis lifted one hand from the mossy ground and carded it through Luna's Rapunzel-like hair. She'd grown it out over the years, mostly out of laziness, and it now reached the backs of her thighs. Her thoughts faded away when she felt Artemis begin to lead the kiss, dragging her beyond the simple touching of lips to tongue as well. Luna moaned and felt Artemis' lips curve upwards.

She scooted closer and broke away from Luna's mouth to cover her cheek and neck with her lips. Between worshipping touches, she said in her husky voice, "I like your hair. There's lots of it."

Luna responded, but the words were lost as their lips reunited.

By unspoken agreement, Artemis pulled back for a moment and jerked her shirt up and over her head. She wore no bra, but had wrapped a length of fabric around her breasts to bind them in place, presumably to keep them in line while she exerted herself in the woods. She helped Luna remove her practical water-proof sweater and the small bra beneath it. Luna honestly didn't need the bra, as she didn't need support. Instead she wore it in case she spontaneously wanted to take a dip and didn't want to be bothered with changing into a swimsuit.

Her long hair spilled over her shoulders and pooled down into the folds of her skirt. Artemis raked her eyes over her, a salacious smile on her face. Luna would have blushed but she enjoyed the obvious desire in her paramour's eyes to be embarrassed. She'd never been _wanted_ like this before.

Artemis dipped her head and nuzzled her cheek against her breasts. She wrapped her lips around her nipple and wrapped an arm around her to pull her closer. Luna arched her back, feeling wetness pool rapidly inside of her and seep out onto her panties. Time seemed to disappear. Luna lay on her back and looked through half-closed eyes at the shadowy canopy of the tree branches above as Artemis suckled and squeezed her breasts. She bent her knees on either side of her and moaned when she felt Artemis roll her hips against hers.

She was positive that she'd soaked clean through her underwear and wondered if Artemis could feel it through her jeans. There was no way she couldn't feel the heat of her, which was swelling still. Her head felt fevered with the power of it.

And then with a final hard suck, Artemis tore herself away from Luna's breasts. She connected their lips and distracted Luna thoroughly until the witch felt her reach down and hike up her skirt until it was folded at her stomach. A thumb began to tease her through her panties and she instinctively moved her hips to try and keep that lone finger in contact with her hyper-heated skin.

Artemis suddenly slowed. Luna wondered if something was the matter, to which Artemis quietly replied with, "Are you a virgin?" 

"No, but I _was _drunk last time."

"You've only been with a woman once before?"

Luna wasn't in the mood for conversation anymore, but the fingers returned to her crotch and rubbed little circles across her flesh. Her eyes slid closed as she said, "Yes. I don't exactly have a lot of opportunities for this sort of thing."

This seemed to satisfy her as she slipped a finger under the elastic and into her panties. The direct sensation of a hand not belonging to herself touching her there felt incredible. Artemis explored her lower torso as her fingers explored the outer folds of Luna's sex and eventually removed the undergarment altogether. Luna got so excited she had to try to think about something other than sex to stave off her orgasm. She had a feeling the best was yet to come.

Finally she settled her head between Luna's hips and slowly lowered her head until it was a mere inch from her sex. Without warning she plunged her tongue deep inside of her, one hand gripping Luna's quivering thigh tightly and the other teasing at her folds. Luna hooked the leg not firmly grasped by Artemis around her shoulders and tried to pull her closer as Artemis began to flick her tongue against her hood and then her clitoris.

She had the mouth of an angel and Luna could no longer hold inside the ecstatic sounds fighting inside her throat. She thrashed and squirmed and screamed when she felt that wall break inside of her and her orgasm course through her.

She lay limp and helpless until she could make her voice work again. As soon as she was able, she offered to return the favor. To her surprise it was declined.

"Maybe next time," Artemis smiled against her hair and smoothed her hands up and down Luna's thighs, "Go to sleep."

When Luna slipped easily off into Morpheus' arms, Artemis whispered, "Your name doesn't suit you. You are not the moon. You are the night sky; brilliant and vast and unknowable."

She awoke before Luna and splayed her fingers over her still-cold cheek and stole three soft, lingering kisses in quick succession, not quite ready to let go. She left the way she'd come, and hummed as she planned the next time she could encounter the human. Luna had been delicious and oh so very virginal. Artemis was partial to virgins.

A goddess must have her fun.

~000~

End Namesake

Two words: CONCEPT PIECE. It is implied that Artemis was rather fond of her own sex, and I just…took advantage of that. And besides, who wouldn't go gay for Luna?


End file.
